Note from Ed: Before reading this weeks race report, can I let everyone know that the results for Race 4 on May 24th have now been decided. The report for that race which can be found by clicking Here has been updated with the positions.

Welcome back after the washout of last week. Apologies to everyone for having to cancel last week, it’s not a decision that is undertaken lightly.  Thankfully the weather this week was much improved.

The race got under way well with the line being, once again, clear. Great to see everyone pushing hard this week to be as close to the line as possible which led to a competitive 1st beat and a great improvement. Well done also for managing without the batons, we promise to find them for next week’s race.

The best start of the day goes to David Mason who flew out of the blocks and onto the 1st beat. He was followed closely by Mike Blatchford and Martin Newman, in the Martins, leading to a good battle up the 1st beat. I was also most impressed to see that despite this battle, the rules were still applied with water being given as they approached the land before the windward mark. Access number 3 was first to round the windward mark leading the access charge downwind.

Downwind David maintained his lead. Peter Wagner came back fighting after a struggle on the first beat to sail a blinder of a downwind leg getting within touching distance of the front runners.

On the second lap, Mike Blatchford really pushed and closed the gap to Martin from 51 seconds to 26 seconds. David Mason wasn’t allowed to have it all his own way with Martin and Mike reducing the deficit with each lap. Within the 303s, Steve Farmer made his move to overtake Fay Watson, staying ahead until the finish line. Peter Wagner continued to improve his position being the only racer in the field to have a faster 2nd lap than 1st.

On the final lap, Mike Blatchford made his move and overtook Martin. Mike also made a good deficit in David’s (on the water) lead cutting it to almost half what it had been on the previous lap.

On a housekeeping note, thank you to all the racers that crossed the finish line and then rounded the end to avoid any other racers that may have needed to cross. Once again and apologies to nag but if you are not racing, namely the Stratos’ please could you stay clear of the start / finish line to avoid impacting the racers when they are pushing for alp times or a finish.

The results for this race are:-

  1. Raymond
  2. Louise McSweeney
  3. Imogen Fletcher
  4. Mike Blatchford
  5. Martin Newman
  6. David Mason
  7. Peter Wagner
  8. Fay Watson
  9. Steve Farmer
  10. Rachel Ibbotts

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